Bad Bunny brought the Caribbean to the Grammy stage this Sunday, with an opening number that made the most important artists in the Anglo-Saxon music industry dance.
The Puerto Rican singer-songwriter, who made history as the first Latino nominated in the album of the year category with an album completely in Spanish, He started the show by singing his hit “Después de la playa”, a reggaeton fused with merengue.
The song, which is part of “A summer without you”, Benito accompanied her with dancers wearing Puerto Rican folk clothingwhile the scenery was made up of palm trees and lights that emulated the landscapes of his native island.
Some of the dancers wore folk clothing at Bad Bunny’s performance at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. GETTY IMAGES
The Puerto Rican singer was the most listened to artist in the world through Spotify in 2022 for the third consecutive year. GETTY IMAGES
The singer, who also won the award for best urban music albumincluded in his presentation a rhythm native to the south of Puerto Rico that has Afro-Caribbean roots, known as plena, and a group of people with giant masks that on the island are called bigheads.
The singer, who also won the award for best urban music albumincluded in his presentation a rhythm native to the south of Puerto Rico that has Afro-Caribbean roots, known as plena, and a group of people with giant masks that on the island are called bigheads.
“Now everyone wants to be Latino, but they lack seasoning, drums and reggaeton,” said the musician upon entering the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
The singer Tego Calderón was honored by Bad Bunny with a big head that represented him at the Grammys. GETTY IMAGES
His music and staging were greatly enjoyed by those who attended the gala, from the American Taylor Swift, who was seen moving her hips to the rhythm of the merengue, to the British star Harry Styles.
Bad Bunny used elements from the famous San Sebastián Street Parties, which take place every January in San Juan, the capital of Puerto Rico, and are recognized as the largest and most important celebration in the Caribbean territory.
In this note we tell you what it is about.
Celebrate a saint
During the San Sebastián Street Festivals, Old San Juanthe historic area of the capital of Puerto Rico that still preserves colonial buildings and cobbled streets, is filled with thousands of people who attend to see live artists, taste typical local food and buy native works of art.
The celebration, which takes place every third weekend in January, began in 1950 with the intention of celebrating Saint Sebastian, a man born in France who in the third century became a martyr for the Catholic Church for not wanting to resign. to your faith.
The plena is one of the rhythms present in the San Juan festival. EPA
Nearly one million people gathered on the third weekend of January 2023. EPA
Initially, the festivities sought to raise funds to maintain the churches of the walled city, as Old San Juan is also known.
Now they have mutated into an enormous activity that, at least this 2023, brought together close to a million people in the small colonial town, on an island with 3.2 million inhabitants.
The Street Parties, as they are currently known, are also a space in which new and old Puerto Rican singers meet. It is seen as an opportunity for local artists, some of whom have achieved world fame, to make their appearances.
It is also an important source of income for businesses in the area.
The elements used by Bad Bunny
One of the most outstanding elements of the festivities on Calle San Sebastián are the big heads, the giant masks worn by eight Bad Bunny dancers during their presentation.
These costumes represent important figures of Puerto Rican culture. During the celebrations they participate in a colorful parade.
The big heads are typical characters of the San Sebastián Street Festivals. EPA
Calle San Sebastián in Old San Juan fills up with people every January to celebrate with music and dance. EPA
This Sunday at the Grammys, among the bigheads who accompanied the rapper, personalities such as singer Tego Calderón, baseball player Roberto Clemente and poet Julia de Burgos were represented.
Bad Bunny, in another gesture that was intended to reinforce his Puerto Rican roots, collaborated with an important local theater company to create the big heads.
“For us, the opportunity to bring the spirit of the San Sebastián Street Festivals to the stage of the Grammy Awards represents immense pride, where we celebrate our idiosyncrasy and cultural identity and pay homage to the women and men who enrich it with big heads,” he published. the Agua, Sol y Sereno collective on their social networks.
The plena is a genre of Creole music, singing and dancing with which Bad Bunny preceded his song “Después de la playa”.
EPA
EPA
It is associated with the popular groups of Puerto Rico and originated in its southern sugar towns. It has Afro-Caribbean melodic roots.
The lyrics of the plena songs, which are accompanied by tambourine music, are usually satirical and related to events that occurred in real life. Sometimes they serve as a vehicle for political denunciation.
The plena, which is also the protagonist of the Fiestas de la Calle San Sebastián, as people play, dance and sing it live around the squares and small streets of Old San Juan, is one of the genres that has influenced other rhythms. of the island, like the reggaeton itself for which Bad Bunny stands out.
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